Austerity measures déjà vu

Lately, I have been spending more time watching MBCtv, thanks to the tug of war between Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) and MultiChoice Africa, which has resulted in MultiChoice Africa stopping its Dstv services in Malawi. Hence, I have very little choice but to turn to MBCtv. I can confidently declare that I have now got the hang of the Presidential Diaries. I digressed.

When the announcement was made that President Lazarus Chakwera would speak to the nation following the 44 percent devaluation of the kwacha, as one of the loyal viewers of MBCtv, I eagerly waited to hear what he would say. Somewhere within me, a voice kept telling me that I would be disappointed with this address and that I should not raise my hopes too high—learning from past experiences where such addresses have only given us too much English but no substance.

I must confess that I wasn’t quite disappointed. The President touched on every aspect that needed to be addressed and spoke with authority. He also managed to threaten some very vocal people who always doubt that he can achieve what he had set out to do. Kudos, Mr. President, for the austerity measures. Right now, in this economic hardship, that’s exactly what this country needs.

But wait a minute, haven’t we been here before? I remember not long ago when similar austerity measures were announced, and we all clapped in the belief that things would turn around for the better. Calculations were made on how much the country would be saving if, for instance, public officers held meetings within their duty stations and not in lake resorts. We were told that anyone found breaching the measures would be dealt with accordingly.

Months into those measures, it was clear that there was no willingness to abide by them. There was no enforcement and clear implementation strategy to ensure the measures were adhered to. What followed was another announcement that meetings could start taking place in lakeshore resorts. Government to this day cannot face Malawians and tell them how much money was saved and what really necessitated the abandonment of the measures.

This is the fear I have right now. Much as the measures look really good on paper and were delivered in an eloquent manner, I fear that’s all there will be to these measures—eloquence with little substance.

For starters, why has the President not put a restriction on his domestic travels? We should not be fooled that domestic travel won’t drain the coffers, they are a strain on public resources. He knows it, and we know it too.

This devaluation came at a time when many Malawians were barely surviving. The least the Chakwera government can do for Malawians is to ensure that the austerity measures are enforced to the letter. We have been here before, but I hope this time around, it will be better.